The Weekly Roundup & The NH Creative, Science & Tech Events Are Back!

Articles

We’ve all been there. When we were handed our first AdWords account to manage we said, “I got this! I’ve been reading about all the best techniques and optimization strategies, and I have my Google AdWords certificate. Piece of cake.” In which I promptly spent half of my budget overnight on an ill-conceived broad keyword. Whoops.

Like any new talent, mastering Google AdWords is something that takes time and practice. It’s a hard skill to teach without hands-on practice.

Are you still trying to navigate the complex maze that is Google AdWords? Learn from those who came before you, and avoid making these six costly rookie mistakes.

Oy, there’s nothing worse than setting up your account, feeling confident, only to wake up to a drained budget that got sucked up by one or two keywords that were set too broad. It’s an easy trap to fall into. Broad keywords can be so appealing to add to a campaign because of the traffic volume they bring in, but that doesn’t mean they’re always right.

So… the editor you emailed didn’t immediately and excitedly promise a reporter in your office by noon to take photos of your new branch opening/promotion/check presentation/fill-in-the-blank.

Or worse, maybe you got the fade away. It goes like this:

You: Hey, did you get that press release I sent you?

Editor: … Oh, yes. … Yes. We did. Thanks.

You: OK. So…

Editor: Yeah. Yeah. I’m going to see if I can get a reporter on it. If not, maybe I’ll put it in the business briefs next week. Thanks.

*CLICK*

A day, a week, a month goes by and you scan the paper wondering, “where the heck is it?” That’s the fade away. It’s the same reaction high schoolers get when they send flirty texts to a crush. Editors are the news equivalent of the class crush… and they get a lot of email begging for attention.

Overwhelmed by Social Media?

Has anyone else noticed that the only people who think using social media to market your business is easy are the people who don't actually have a business?

Don't get me wrong, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are great options for a budget conscious business owner, but they're not easy.

They require careful planning, a commitment to regular posts, and a willingness to engage not only with the people who follow you, but in whatever group or conversation you find your target market. And this all has to be done without sounding like you're spouting a canned sales pitch.

As if that wasn't enough, you have to block off time away from running your business for each and every social media platform you use. It's not hard if you have the time and tools, but when you're a small business owner there is never enough time.

Prepare for the unexpected

Almost everything in life is uncertain and we should always prepare our families for any unplanned situation that may arise. Why everyone needs a life insurance plan is quite simple and it’s obvious when we look around at our family. Life itself is uncertain, and we need to be prepared for the unexpected. In fact, one of the only certainties in life is death. While many things in life are predictable, death is not one of those situations that we can predict. We see all too often families posting “go fund me” pages on Facebook. These are instances in which families were not prepared, not only by the emotional devastation but the financials aspects as well.

Sickness and death are particularly frightening on their own. Death is a certainty in life that nobody can avoid. What’s really frightening though, is if we are not prepared when this happens. This is the reason why every person should have adequate life insurance coverage. After all, we do not get life insurance for ourselves, but rather for our loved ones. It is one of the most selfless purchases that we can make for our loved ones.

Changes are coming...

Anyone who read to the end of last week's Weekly Roundup knows that I am making some changes to the Queen City Buzz website this week.

As I've said before, my goal is to connect people, information and resources to help build a stronger local business community and since Queen City Buzz has started to become the go-to source for local business, networking and tech events I thought it made perfect sense to open up the sidebar to post your events and promotions.

Starting this week, I will be posting events and promotions for Queen City Buzz contributors and friends in the right sidebar.

Exciting Times for Networking in Manchester!

It's the first week of February and look how many activities are on the calendar. This doesn't even include the weekly Gold Star meetups on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. I think I'm a little giddy.

Of course the featured event this week is Coffee Buzz Networking on Tuesday. Not only does this month's meetup introduce a new format but we've got A-List, nationally recognized speaker, Cami Baker.